In 1846 Vienna, childbed fever ran rampant causing death among many pregnant patients. Consequently, Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis began an experiment where his doctors washed their hands resulting in a decrease of patient death thus leading to Germ Theory.
Through his calculated cross breeding studies of garden peas, Mendel discovered a pattern of dominant and recessive traits which lead to groundbreaking advances in the field of genetics.
With his construction of his own microscope, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek discovered microorganisms, namely the protozoa, which are single celled pond organisms. Because of his work, he is considered the first microbiologist.
Alexander Fleming's discovery of penicillin lead to the successful extraction and testing of penicillin on mice injected with streptococci. These tests gave birth to the first antibiotic which became a life saving cure for a variety of diseases.
Scientist are smart but did you know that they used radio waves to find a black whole four times bigger than the sun on the other side of the Milky Way. Cool!
William Herschel was a classical trained musician who changed to astronomy to study the stars. He became the greatest telescope maker of his time and discovered that the Milky Way is full of stars.
Dr. Michio Kaku explains that a wormhole is essentially a shortcut through space and time. Is time travel really possible? And if so, how do we avoid opening a metaphysical Pandora's box?
If backwards time travel was possible, could we change history? Or is the power of space and time so great that time travelers would be unable to alter even the smallest detail?
Albert Einstein unveils his theory of general relativity in which he proposes that mass warps both time and space, therefore large masses can bend light. The theory is proven in 1919 by astronomers using a solar eclipse as a test.
Mars time and Earth time are so similar, scientists working on the Phoenix Mars Lander mission are in a constant state of jet lag. Space producer Dave Mosher finds out how they're coping with the ever changing clock.